What s missing in my Christian Life? Ps Andrew Cavanagh Sunday morning 26 th August /26/18

Transcription

1 Ps Andrew Cavanagh Sunday morning 26 th August 2018 What s missing in my Christian Life? "Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back--a trumpet-blast shout! Tell my people what's wrong with their lives, face my family Jacob with their sins! They're busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying all about me. To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people-- law-abiding, Godhonouring. They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?' and love having me on their side. But they also complain, 'Why do we fast and you don't look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?' "Well, here's why: "The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit. A fast to show off your humility or look solemn for a day. Isaiah 58:1-3 MSG 2 1

2 God s answer to your Question "This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The GOD of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, GOD will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.' "If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people's sins, If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-andout, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. Isaiah 58:6-10 MSG 3 Who supplies our needs? And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NIV) 2

3 Bernard of Clairvaux ( ) Bernard proposed four levels of love: 1. Love of self for the sake of self 2. Love of God for the sake of self 3. Love of God for the sake of God 4. Love of self for the sake of God Entitlement in the Old Testament Jeremiah 9 times God, through Jeremiah, condemns Judah for their stubborn independence. The root cause of that stubbornness was that they knew they were the children of God, and they felt they were entitled to His blessing and protection. Ezekiel Chapters 33 & 34 Complacency Presumption Self-interest Greed 3

4 Entitlement brings false hope This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They keep saying to those who despise me, 'The LORD says: You will have peace.' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm will come to you.' 18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word? 19 See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. 20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand it clearly. 21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds. Jeremiah 23:16-22 (NIV) Presumption and Entitlement And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin. 13 "When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. Ezekiel 33:12 & 13 (NAU) Son of man, they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession. Ezekiel 33:24 (NAU) 4

5 Fat Sheep I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment. 17 As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. 18 Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? 19 As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!' 20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them, Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, 22 therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another. Ezekiel 34:15-22 (NAU) Suffering Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? 1 Peter 4:12-18 (NIV) 5

6 Pruning leads to increased fruitfulness I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:1-7 (NAU) What pruning looks like 6

7 Four reasons we suffer For Everyone 1. We live in a world of reliable natural laws affecting our planet and our bodies. Things are wearing out. 2. We live in a world of free moral choices, both for ourselves and for others. Those choices will have an impact on ourselves and others 3. We live in a world that has fallen. Sin has impacted the world and there are spiritual forces that are hell-bent on dragging us down Just for Christians 4. We live in a world where we are to be partakers of Christ s suffering Be who you want to be? You ARE free to make whatever choice you like, BUT you are not free to avoid the consequences of that choice You CAN be anything that you put your mind to, BUT you must first have the mind of Christ You SHOULD dream, BUT not lose touch with reality 7

8 Four reasons I cannot just do what I want I am not an island, the choices I make have an impact on others; family, friends, work colleagues, fellow sports club members, total strangers. I am part of a COMMUNITY. I am constrained by the choices that I have already made. I am CONSISTENT. I am a man under authority, both to God and to others. I will run my plans past godly people who speak into my life. I am ACCOUNTABLE. I am aware of my humanity. I know I have physical limitations, I am aware that my heart is not always aligned with God s. I am REALISTIC How do we see God? Is He our Punisher? Is He our emergency parachute? Is He our Oprah Winfrey? Is He our magic pudding? Is He our strong tower, our refuge? Is He our source, our security, our saviour, despite the circumstances? 8

9 No sense of entitlement I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) Who supplies our needs? And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NIV) 9

10 Our motives are critical When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3 (NIV) For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 2 Timothy 1:7-9 (NIV) He has given us Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:2-4 (NIV) 10

11 Communion For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 (NIV) 11